Pastor praises giving

MIDDLETOWN -- During Sunday worship, Pastor Rev. Moses L. Harvill did not give the sermon but listened along with members of thecongregation of Cross Street AME Zion Church.

JOHN CHRISTIE

Published
12:00 am EDT, Monday, September 29, 2003

Aa tall, thin man in white robes took to the pulpit, beaming a wide smile.

Raising a voice -- singing with the accent of sub-Sahara Africa -- Rev. Hillard Dogbe gave a rousing sermon on the Parable of the Talents and the necessity of giving.

"We have a responsibility to commit ourselves to a mission," Dogbe said, as congregation members answered with a hearty "Yes!" or "Amen!"

"We have a responsibility to bring a smile to someone's face! We have a responsibility to wipe away tears from someone's cheeks!" he said. "We have a responsibility to feed somebody, to clothe somebody!

"We have a responsibility to lift somebody up!" Dogbe shouted.

The sermon's theme was an appropriate one because earlier in the service Harvill surprised Dogbe with a check for $1,000 to aid his congregation in Ghana, Africa.

Harvill said for the last two years Cross Street Church has partnered with the Ghanaian AME Zion Church to help them build a new chapel in Accra New-Town.

"We've just finished building the chapel," Dogbe said. "Cross Street helped pay for the windows, doors and fixtures."

Dogbe said the Cross Street congregation's generosity allowed his own 350-member congregation move out of a tiny, cramped chapel into a building they can all worship in.

"The other chapel was very old and so small that a new one had to be built," he said.

Dogbe said the congregation's next challenge is to build a pastor's house, church offices and a Fellowship Hall in which to hold community activities.

"Our goal is to raise $4,000 for the construction," he said. "With the donation from Cross Street, we now have $3,000."

Harvill clasped Dogbe's shoulder and said, "It looks like we only have a $1,000 more to go! We'll see what we can do.

"People have been very generous in giving to this cause," Harvill said. "Though our churches are separated by a great distance, we're bound by the same commitment to our Lord and bound by the same spirit".

Harvill said Cross Street also shares the same tribulations that come with building a new church.

Cross Street is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise $1 million to build a new church at the corner of West and Wadsworth Streets. Wesleyan University provided the land for Cross Street to build on.

Harvill said the new church will hold between 700 and 800 people, as opposed to the current building at 160 Cross St., which can hold about 300 people.

"The new church will help us expand our ministry," he said. "We've raised about $800,000 so far, but there is still a great need."

Harvill said construction on the new church should start at the beginning of next year.

During his sermon, Dogbe told congregation members that since first visiting two years ago "I feel like part of the Cross Street family.

"When you come here, you don't look for someone to open the door or show you a seat," he said. "You know you are welcome to come inside and make yourself comfortable."

To make a donation to the Cross Street capital campaign, call the church at (860) 347-9527.